Book ends



H. H. POLAY Feb. 3, 1959 BOOK ENDS Filed Sept. 9, 1954 HARVEY H POLAY INVENTOR.

M Mm AI'TOQA/E Y hired States 2,872,946 Patented Feb. 3, 1959 ice BOOK ENDS Harvey H. Polay, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application September 9, 1954, Serial No. 454,926 7 Claims. (Cl. 211-42) This invention relates to novel lateral supporting elements more particularly book ends designed to support one or more books in a vertical position and avoid lateral displacement thereof.

Books are generally stored adjacent each other in parallel vertical planes so as to make their title readily visible and so as to facilitate accessibility to them for use. It is found, however, that rows of such books have a tendency to shift laterally and to topple over, pivoting about their lowermost edges. Where books are stored either in book cases where they do not fill the shelves, or on table or desk surfaces, they must thus be provided with some sort of lateral support to prevent their shifting, or falling over on their sides. Decorative supports designed for this purpose are generally available. These conventional supports or book ends, however, must be quite weighty so as to prevent their lateral displacement under the shifting or toppling forces exerted by the books. The result is a cumbersome article, relatively costly because of the bulk of material used.

It is with the above problems in mind that the present construction has been evolved, a construction providing an inexpensive, decorative, light weight book end suitable for providing lateral support for from one to a plurality of books, and preventing both toppling and lateral shifitng of the supported books.

It is accordingly a primary object of this invention to provide a novel lateral support construction for books and the like.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a novel light weight book end preventing lateral shifting of the supported books.

Another object of this inventionis to provide a novel book end construction in which the supported books are prevented from toppling.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel book end serving to securely engage the supported books.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel book end construction of extreme light weight where the weight of the structure is unnecessary in the provision of the desired lateral support.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a decorative book end construction inexpensive in construction and requiring no maintenance.

These and other objects of the invention which will become apparent from the following disclosure and claims are achieved by provision of an inverted V-shaped member made up of a flexible sheet material. One arm of said member functions as an article engaging element and has attached thereto article gripping means. The other arm functions as a lateral brace and has attached thereto a surface gripping leg.

This construction will be more specifically pointed out in the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the instant novel book end construction showing its use on a table surface.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation showing the book ends in operative engagement with the supported books.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an individual book end showing the details of its component elements.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the novel book end construction shown in Figs. 1-3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the herein disclosed inventive concept.

Fig. 7 reveals a further modification of the novel book end construction showing a variation of the article gripping mean.

As most clearly seen in Figures 2-5 a book end 10 made in the shape of an inverted-V member is provided made of a resilient sheet material such as sheet metal or plastic. One leg is adapted for engagement as a direct bearing contact 11 with the covers of the books supported. This bearing leg is provided with hook-shaped engaging means 12 designed for engagement with the book cover as clearly seen in Fig. 2. As seen in Fig. 5 this bearing leg 11 is not exactly perpendicular to the horizontal, asindicated by the dot-dash line representing the vertical cover of a supported book. The reason for this will be hereinafter described. The other leg functions as lateral brace 13 and has extending therefrom supporting foot 14. This foot is provided with friction foot 16 as clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 3.

In Fig. 6 is revealed a modification of the above disclosed construction showing a variation of the engaging means. Instead of the hook member 12 fastened to bearing element 11 a plate member 20 is provided. This plate member has secured thereto a friction pad 21 of any suitable material such as rubber, cloth, or the like.

The embodiment disclosed in Fig. 7 employs as an engaging means a fluted plate 25 with the flutings extending in the direction shown.

Operation In operation the engaging means, whether 12, 20 or 25 are inserted beneath the books to be supported, where these means will be firmly gripped by the bottoms of the book covers. Bearing element 11, which is at a slight angle to the vertical, as indicated in Fig. 5 will be spring pressed against the covers of the book to be supported insuring a firm engagement between the book ends and the books. Any tendency to topple which usually takes place as a turning moment about the bottom of the side wall of the supported books will be overcome as a result of bracing element 13. Any tendency for lateral shifting displacement is resisted as a result of the interaction of friction foot 16 with the table surface.

It will thus be observed that a book end of simple and economical construction, pleasing in appearance, light in weight and serving to avoid any tendency of supported books to either topple or shift laterally is provided.

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration and elucidation and not by Way of limitation and it is desired to protect all embodiments of the herein disclosed inventive concept within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A lateral supporting member for books and the like objects, said member comprising: a substantially vertical bearing member; a brace fastened rigidly to an upper part of said member and extending outwardly at an angle thereto; the lower ends of said bearing member and brace lying in a common plane, the bearing member forming an obtuse angle with respect to said plane on the side towards the brace member; and hook shaped engaging means rigidly secured to the bottom of said bearing member on the side opposite the aforementioned angle, said means spring biasing said bearing member against the article supported.

2. A lateral supporting member for books and the like objects, said member comprising: a substantially vertical bearing member; a brace fastened rigidly to an upper part of said member and extending outwardly at anangle thereto; the lower ends of said bearingm'ernber and brace lying in a common plane, the bearing member forming an obtuse angle withrespect to said plane on the side towards the brace member; hooksh'aped engaging means lying in a common plane, the bearing member forming an obtuse angle with respect to said plane on the side towards the brace member; and hook shaped engaging means rigidly secured to the bottom of said bearing member on the side opposite the aforementioned angle, said means spring biasing said bearing member against the article supported; a supporting foot on said brace; and a friction member beneath said foot to prevent slippage thereof.

4. A book end for resiliently engaging the books to be supported, said book end comprising: a resilient inverted V shaped member having a bracing leg and subg stantially vertical bearing leg,-the lower ends of said bearing leg and bracing leg lying in a common plane, the bearing leg forming an obtuse angle with respect to said plane on the side toward said bracing leg; a hook member rigidly secured to said bearing leg on the side of the leg opposite the aforementioned angle for gripping a book cover and spring biasing said bearing member into contact with the book cover; and a supporting foot rigidly secured to said bracing leg to prevent lateral displacement thereof, whereby said book end may neither slide nor topple.

- 5. A book end comprising gripping means adapted to engage the lower edge of a book cover; a bearing member of resilient material rigidly secured to said gripping means and at a slight angle to the vertical, said bearing member spring biased by said gripping means into bearing contact with the outer face of the book cover; a bracing member rigidly secured to and extending outwardly and downwardly from said bearing member and serving when positioned on a horizontal surface to maintain said bearing member in a substantially vertical plane, the lower ends of said bearing member and bracing member lying in a common horizontal plane, the bearing member forming an obtuse angle with respect to said horizontal plane on the side towards the brace member; and a supporting foot rigidly secured to said bracing member at its lower most extremity preventing lateral shifting of said bracing member.

6. A book end as in claim 5 in which said gripping means comprise: a plate adapted for frictional engagement with the lower edge of a book cover.

7. A book end as in claim 5 in which said gripping means comprise: a fluted plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,169,869 Richards Feb. 1, 1916 1,370,279 Burzynski Mar. 1, 1921 1,812,318 Bower June 30, 1931 1,832,884 Ulrich Nov. 24, 1931 1,912,229 Spurr May 30, 1933 2,117,667 Johnson May 17, 1938 2,225,830 Harris Dec. 24, 1940 2,767,856 Grant Oct. 23, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 688,709 Great Britain Mar. 11, 1953 

